I can’t respond to all of it now, but do want to point out one thing.
And, of course, if elected he will very visibly owe his win to a single ultra-wealthy individual who is almost guaranteed to have business before the next congress in financial and crypto regulation.
I think this isn’t accurate.
Donations from individuals are capped at $5,800, so whatever money Carrick is getting is not one giant gift from Sam Bankman-Fried, but rather many small ones from individual Americans. Some of them may work for organizations that get a lot of funding from big EA donors, but it’s still their own salary which they are free to spend however they like. As an aside, probably in most cases the funding of these orgs will currently still come from OpenPhil (who give away Dustin Moskovitz’s and Cari Tuna’s wealth), rather than FTX Future Fund (who give away SBF’s wealth among others).
I think it’s important that for the most part, this is money that not-crazy-rich Americans could have spent on themselves, but chose to donate to this campaign instead.
Thanks for the replies. This is exactly what I meant: Flynn likely wouldn’t be within striking distance without the firehose of ads provided by SBF’s super pacs. A really large % of the spending in the race is being provided by a single individual.
Donations from individuals are capped at $5,800, so whatever money Carrick is getting is not one giant gift from Sam Bankman-Fried, but rather many small ones from individual Americans.
There’s a really easy way around the $5800 limitation, called a super PAC (Political Action Committee). Super PACs don’t give to campaigns directly, but try to influence races via ads, etc. There are no restrictions on super PAC funds.
Hey, interesting to hear your reaction, thanks.
I can’t respond to all of it now, but do want to point out one thing.
I think this isn’t accurate.
Donations from individuals are capped at $5,800, so whatever money Carrick is getting is not one giant gift from Sam Bankman-Fried, but rather many small ones from individual Americans. Some of them may work for organizations that get a lot of funding from big EA donors, but it’s still their own salary which they are free to spend however they like. As an aside, probably in most cases the funding of these orgs will currently still come from OpenPhil (who give away Dustin Moskovitz’s and Cari Tuna’s wealth), rather than FTX Future Fund (who give away SBF’s wealth among others).
I think it’s important that for the most part, this is money that not-crazy-rich Americans could have spent on themselves, but chose to donate to this campaign instead.
SBF’s Protect Our Future PAC has put more than $7M towards Flynn’s campaign. I think this is what _pk and others are concerned about, not direct donations. And this is what most people concerned with “buying elections” are concerned about. (This is what the Citizens United controversy is about.)
Thanks for the replies. This is exactly what I meant: Flynn likely wouldn’t be within striking distance without the firehose of ads provided by SBF’s super pacs. A really large % of the spending in the race is being provided by a single individual.
Thanks for pointing this out, wasn’t aware of that, sorry for the mistake. I have retracted my comment.
There’s a really easy way around the $5800 limitation, called a super PAC (Political Action Committee). Super PACs don’t give to campaigns directly, but try to influence races via ads, etc. There are no restrictions on super PAC funds.
In this case the Protect Our Future (super) PAC (https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/19/crypto-super-pac-campaign-finance-00026146). I’m not clear exactly how much POF spent on the Flynn campaign, but SBF donated $13M to POF.
Thanks for pointing this out, wasn’t aware of that, sorry for the mistake. I have retracted my comment.